Home Birth

I'm not pregnant, but a discussion with my sister over Christmas made me start thinking about birth and delivery. My first one didn't go as I'd hoped in any way besides getting a wonderful, healthy baby at the end--which is all I really need, I know.

My second one went much more so how I wanted but primarily because I birthed at home until that baby was almost a home birth without a Dr. around, but I wasn't stuck to all the hospital policies and I loved that. Josh didn't, he was envisioning delivering that baby himself by how long it took me to leave the house.

I'd still like to have it go a little differently, just more in my control when it comes to the birth, so as my sister and I talked about water and home births, I got interested. Water births still aren't my thing for a few reasons and home births always sounded gross, and I liked being taken care of after the baby was born in the hospital. The food where I had my first two was amazing too, shocking I know, but I loooved just looking at their menu and pigging out. It's sort of like more of event for me to have a baby in a hospital too, that's just kind of fun.

But all the people I've talked to who have done home births have loved them--obviously it's a small number of women and they chose that so most likely they'd be more into it, but it gets me thinking. Then last week I had a friend tell me her aunt's baby died because of a complication during a home birth and there wasn't time to get to a hospital and that freaked me out a little.

To learn more about the dangers and pluses of a home birth, I asked my really cool, really normal, and very with it friend who'd had one--I don't want you to conjure up images of a lady living in a hippie commune. She sent me an invite to a "homebirth lunch lounge," a get-together for people to ask q's while kids play.

Josh was just in here and it went like this:

Me: "Josh, on Wednesday I'm going to a homebirth lounge with Melanie."

Josh: "You're going where with whom???... ... ...(me laughing)... ...If you're trying to scare me away from having any more babies, this is the way to do it."

Ahh, I love that man. I think we'll have to settle with a midwife at the hospital. At this point I'm more comfortable with that too since I don't know the details of home births.

Q: Any thoughts?

Magazine and Book Purge

If you're like me, and I hope you aren't in this (rare and unusual:), case, you may find yourself with stacks of magazines piling up in every corner of your house. You might think, "ahh, I would love to just sit down and read this sometime." So you shelve it or worse, put it in a pretty magazine box thing so then you can't even see what it is and it's nearly inevitable that you won't read i, just takes up space.

I had a small thrill yesterday going through our storage shed and discovering what was in all the boxes we had to store during this home renovation. Ends up most of them are full of books and magazines. I don't think magazines should be stored, they should be read and tossed (unless they're Real Simple or Martha Stewart, those are soft cover coffee table art books). But I do it anyway, it's just painful to toss things that I feel like I could gain knowledge or enjoyment out of.

And the books. I discovered books I'd gotten out of give-away piles back at BYU-Idaho in 2001. I was so excited at the time to see free books since I only owned text books at that time. I really need to purge them, I don't even read the books I'd pay for.

In our new house the biggest cause for needing to purge is that there simply isn't a good place for them. Technically there is space, I could leave a stack of boxes full of them in our house, just wouldn't have room to move around much. Or if I were really not wanted to get rid of them and had a genius engineer who could build this wall out of magazines, that would work. (Isn't that amazing?)

But I need to purge. I have decided I will try to skim one magazine a day and toss it. That's my goal anyway. I'm excited and nervous, I had skimming, but I don't have time to really go through these either at my snail pace.

Wish me luck.

Q: Do you have this collectors problem?
Q: Any good ideas on getting rid of them or saving articles?
Q: What do you do about church magazines, they seem a little weird to throw away?

Where to Vaca?

Josh and I took a trip to Peru a year and a half ago, it was awesome. He had traveled enough to earn us free tickets there and we had a relatively inexpensive trip once in Peru. It was sooo awesome and we loved it. I should really post pics from it...as I always intend. Here, while I'm at it, I'll write a list of a few things I should write and post about:

*Trip to Peru

*Memphis, Boston and St. George marathons

*Our mostly finished house project (HURRAY!)

Back on track here. The time is ripe for us to start planning another trip sans kids. There are a few reasons why:

-We have almost enough miles again to get us just about anywhere in the world (miles mostly accumulated while in Houston, which means he doesn't travel much here, so this may be the last time we have this luxury)

-I'm not pregnant, or nursing (which I was trying to keep up during our week long get away--yep, pumping on the old hiking trail during the cold nights in a tent on our way to Machu Picchu, and she wasn't even interested when we came back.)

-Pregnancy is in the near future plans and I don't really want to be sick while on vaca, which means it has to be before and then I'll be tied to a baby for pretty much the next 21 months.

-We've had a lot going on the past year, lots of good, but lots of stress, and we think it would be really awesome to set it all aside for a week and just honeymoon together (we plan to do fun things with the kids too, don't worry, we're not leaving them out:)

Here's the question, where to go?

We tossed a few ideas around when we were considering our last one, Hawaii, Argentina, Peru. Ultimately we decided to do Peru because we wanted to do something we couldn't do with the kids, like hike for four days carrying packs. At times I've wondered why on earth I thought you could do Hawaii with kids, the way I envisioned it anyway: sitting on a beach reading books all day, between naps of course. Which is why we're throwing that into the mix this time too. Josh also has two free nights at a Marriott there (or points elsewhere, just depends on the location).

Here area few places I'd like to see (not to exclude the rest of the world, these are just next on my wish list):

Japan

Argentina

Russia

Hawaii

Bali

But then as I sat thinking about what I really want from a vacation, I realized I would really love to just relax, at least part of the time. Which reminded me of treehouse vacations. I used to read about them any time I'd see something on them, they look so awesome.

I'd also love to go somewhere you can get pampered, on the cheap (like Asia or Africa, but more on the Asia side, I think they understand pampering tourists better).

Or just somewhere really unusual. I read up on some earthy vaca's a while back and they had you showering basically outside with just walls around you and your hotel room was really integrated with nature, that sounds awesome and spa like to me. Since I've never been to a spa (except that one day spa I got a deal on, so fun Alicia), I just have visions in my head from all the sites I dream about.

And cheap...yeah, that's the kicker. We have free plane tix and a night or two at a marriott, but it sounds fun to do a non-Marriott and something more different, or at least in an unusual location.

Q: Where should we go?
Q: Have you heard of any cool or different vacations?

Crazy Fashions and the Uber Skinny

Sao Paulo just had their fashion week. What exactly does that mean any more? It seems like a wonderfully creative and fun event, but I think they should change the name from "Fashion Week" to "Fantastical (or Freakish) Week."

1. This is the only highlight for me from what I saw. I love these, and given the right event to wear them in (presumably only in NYC), I totally would.

2. And here things go downhill. Who is this, a terrorist, bomber, fashionable neighborhood robber?

3. And how, oh how, can you keep a straight face in this outfit man. Can't you hear it screaming at you, "Please, don't wear me! Give me back to Cher's grandmother's closet where I can rest in peace! Minus the hat, you can give that back to the forrest gnomes."

4. I think this one is the most humorous. How can a group of this many people, dressed up like alien futuristic followers of a fashion dictator keep straight faces? They almost look like they think it's cool too. Which maybe it is, now that I think of it, it does sound fun to be dressed up like that with a bunch of people doing the same.

5. Here's where it gets fun. She's wearing her seat cushions. Ever been to a shower or get together where there isn't a chair? "Oh, no thanks, I came prepared. This way even if I drift off to sleep I'll be comfortable."

6. And here is her more provacative sister, the stiffer chair. I overheard her say, "Don't even think about sitting here, people have been trying it all day. Thank goodness I have a headrest...oh wait, I'm thirsty, can someone give me a drink, I can't move my arms."

7. Now this is classy, pure class I tell ya. Having a hard time deciding which shoes to wear with your new pants your grandma made from repurposing her old tablecloth? No need, she thought of that too, all in one baby.

8. She looks happy doesn't she. I'm sure she's much prettier too, but it seems to be the trend to make the models as unattractive as possible so they won't outshine the beautiful clothes. Or maybe it's just to see if they can make her as unattractive as possible so the clothes look just a notch better. Too bad they didn't succeed here. I can still tell that if she just took a shower and washed all that weirdness away, she'd be way better off than this old couch made to look like Queen Elizabeth I. Poor girl, looks like she can barely hold her little self up under such a big thing.

9. She sort of looks like she'll peck at you if you make one little chirp about her outfit. Maybe it's one of those new "fitness fashion" things like the Sketcher shoes that work you out just by wearing them. I think I'd be quite strong in my left arm if I wore this every day.

Tell me how How HOW can't she be sort of smiling here? I think this outfit is hysterical, from a distance anyway. You know you better be careful if she comes into negotiations wearing this, I think it's the perfect outfit to speak for you so you don't have to when mean business.

10. And my favorite of the group because this model has the guts to sort of smirk/smile at what she's wearing. Or is she grimacing since the table skirt is about to take her skeletal frame down?
What is pretty about those arms?

The girl is definitely pretty, but those poor arms, they look completely malnurished, which I assume goes for the whole body that fortunately we can't see. While I love this outfit for the sake of pure fun, I have a little sickness at seeing the model. I thought Brazil was in the news about a year ago for models that were too skinny, but it may have been the French. Why do designers want them to be so skinny? I do love how the skirt looks so huge and flowy though:).

Q: Which is your favorite and why?

Q: What do you think about them being so skinny? Attractive? Why?
Q: What is the purpose of this fashion week? Seems like a lot of work without any real sales potential. Is this soley for the name to get out there?

A Good Thing

It's been stressful recently, up until last night we've kind of been going non-stop--for about 8 months really--but esp the past two weeks. I flew in from Ohio two weeks ago and there was a LOT unfinished on our house, but we were hosting a family/close friends wedding open house at our place last Thursday, so that gave us just over a week to finish up a bazillion things.

We managed to get most of our list of to-dos done by sacrificing a lot of sleep and me getting what we think was viral strep throat. Josh's parents came into town Thursday and helped us do all the finishing work and we barely finished things up by the time guests showed up. In fact, we had a leak under the sink for a day so our contractor was there up until minutes before the guests came. Oh, and we passed inspection earlier that day so we were finally able to switch out the ugly, yet required by CA, lights and put our pretty new ones in.

I didn't want to post this one first since it shows my cool wall in the background, but it's the only pic of us together in a while. Better work on my posture some more...

I'll post more pics soon, but what I wanted to say here was something about Josh. We've barely had time to nuture our relationship very much since coming here, but thanks to all of our loads of work the past couple of weeks, we were able to spend hours together while painting, tiling, grouting, painting...and talking. It was so fun to get to catch up and have so much time to just talk. What a wonderful blessing to have to just have hours to chat with the man I love but haven't gotten to really connect with as much as I'd like here.

Last night after all the guests were gone, Josh and I took the girls on a jog when it started down-pouring on us. We ran hard home and came in and got the girls nice and dry and set up with a movie and fruit snacks--a special treat before dinner here. Josh and I showered and got in nice warm, dry clothes and talked about how excited we were to just veg together for the first time in a while. It was a nearly euphoric moment just to have so much work finished and finally some time to just relax together and enjoy our finished home, something we haven't experienced since moving in. It's not totally finished mind you, we still have to move into our kitchen and house, but the major putting the house itself together is done.

When we were talking Josh was smiling and said, "We have a good thing. Sure we have our distractions, but we have a good thing." I liked that, we do have a good thing. It's not always apparent to others the little private gems of our relationship, but we do have a good thing. And we're very much in love, we just show it more privately (although I love seeing others more openly, we're not opposed:).

I liked that he said "distractions" too, it's a much more accurate word than some others that could be used there. At the end of the day when we're focused on each other, nothing else really matters and everything else really is just a distraction. And yes, of course there are plenty of great things to do besides stare into each others eyes all day long, as long as there's some time for that too.

We continued onto the best, most relaxing, wonderful night after that. We had a family pizza party in front of the tv while we all watched "Backyardigans" and had ice cream bars. Once the kids went to bed--peacefully too for a change since they're not sleep deprived--we sat and watched our own movie, which was a nice entertaining PG movie that neither of us have seen. That alone is something to write about.

Then we went to bed, earlier than in the last month, on clean sheets.

Yes, we have a good thing and very good things indeed.

Q: What's a good thing you've had lately?

New Years Resolutions

I still haven't nailed them down yet, I used to just give up if I hadn't decided on them by the first day of the year, but then I realized when I did have them done by the first of the year, my new years resolutions were made in haste and hard to follow. I actually usually do a pretty decent job at keeping them...from a few months to most of a year believe it or not. Maybe that says something about how tough my resolutions are. Oh, and that's only been in recent years when I've stopped dong a page long list and more like 3-5 things and I'll stick with 1-3 of them.

I'm trying to simplify and just pick a few key actions or behaviors I want to work on, and they're different than I've ever done before, but they're what are important to me now and frankly, if I get them out there, I feel a little more responsible for them if I share them.

Since I've sufficiently inspired you with my great discipline and motivation, I'll now interest you with my goals for this year, thus far.

Health: Better posture

Family: Don't yell at my kids (I know, I sort of had a nervous laugh with this too, but I figure it didn't really start until this past year, so I can stop it...right? And it took me a while to accept the word "yell" too since I came up with all sorts of euphemisms, but here's to a year of honesty with self!)

Spirituality: Read the Book of Mormon 10-15 min a day (aim higher right? just remember, this is a commitment so I want to make it something I can really do every day)

Self: Work on self-doubt and stop explaining myself and reasons to others--the way where I have to explain why I do things so you won't get the wrong idea about me, not just my excessive yapping (yes, as I just did above).

-My friend Brittany clued me into my self-doubt when she took me to the airport in Boston after my marathon. I don't remember what she said, but she was sort of laughing and telling me that I'm talented but have a lot of self-doubt. I was shocked since I thought I was pretty self-confident, but then I realized she was totally right and I appreciated her confidence in me and perspective so much! Josh apparently had been telling me this for years so he was glad that I listened to her (I wonder what else I haven't heard?).

More Self: Be more positive.

-I used to be very positive, then I felt like I had to be a realist with others because I didn't like that people thought my life was so perfect and also, if someone asks how you're doing and you're having a crummy day, I think it's sort of dishonest to say, "Great! How are you?" Even though it's supposed to be just a courtesy greeting. Josh disagrees with me here. But the point is, I'm going to just focus on the positive, stop worrying about what other people think and how they treat me--that's the goal anyway.

More More Self: Spend my time more wisely, be more productive.

Coupledom: MORE DATES!!!

Okay, so my list got lengthy, but hey, I figure this will be the best year I've ever had, so I'd better start making it that way! How's that for cheese factor? I'll let you know how I do...

Q: Feel like sharing any of yours?

Southam Family Party

This is my entire family...at least on my side of things. This is the first picture we've had all together with everyone in it in 5 years (I think?). Josh and I feel like we're pulling my mom's teeth out to get her to agree to such an ordeal--getting all the kids cleaned and dressed (and we're not talking like fancy). Oh, and all sitting still in the same area. It is a small feat, but after lobbying for it, I think everyone will be happy to have it.

My sister Jill, the one in the grey shirt (sort of behind and left of me) got married to Shane this summer and brought 3 awesome kids into the family that we finally got to meet this trip. Jill, Shane, Carter, Byron and Meredith all just left today, sad to have the party thinning out. It's so nice to have all these people together that I love, makes me want to have a big family--too bad for bad pregnancies and nursing to inhibit that excitement.

Here's to family get togethers! Next on my list, new years resolutions.

Q: Is it hard to get your family to sit and take a picture?

Garage Sale Finds

I love garage sales, sometimes I get addicted. That usually only happens if I'm looking for something in particular so if I'm not, I try to stay away because it's hard to walk away empty-handed, although I'm getting better at that.

A while ago I was on a jog with the girls on a Saturday morning and just in case, I brought a $20 along with me. After following obscure signs to what looked to be a highly unpromising little collection of grandmothers clothes and trinkets, I saw a jewelry stand at the front as I was about to turn away. And hallelujah!

Get this: $1 each. I bought the silver heart necklace and another one (not shown) for the girls. You really can't appreciate how great they are from the pics. So good, I had to go back later that day to reconsider buying the $2-3 dollar ones or more for the girls, but I only bought a couple more, hard to pay that much for others when I got such a good deal already:).

Q: Have a favorite? I know, hard to choose.
Q: What's your best garage sale find?

White House Crashers

I found the news of this couple to be quite hilarious--have you heard? We haven't had the t.v. on during vaca or barely checked the news, so maybe it's everywhere, but I'm much too humored to ignore the news.

So this couple apparently just shows up at the white house for one of their dinners honoring the Indian Prime Minister (shown above to the left of Obama) and security lets them through without checking the list. I want to watch videos of them, I just haven't had a chance. I wish I could watch everything and see how exactly they managed the whole thing, you must pull off some confidence and charm if you can slip right in. They also have a picture with Biden, I think it's so hysterical!

The best part of all this is that she also showed up for a Redskins alumni cheerleader performance and nobody said a thing, she just joined in. Isn't that great? I'd love to meet this lady! Oh, and she wants to be on Read Housewives of D.C. I have to say, I have never had an ounce of interest in this show, which doesn't really matter since we don't have cable, but I would totally watch it if she was on the show. And if we had cable.

Q: Do you think this is more funny or more serious that security could miss something like this?
Q: Are you a prankster? I can see my sister Autumn running through her head how she could pull something like this off.
Q: Would you watch the show if she were on it?

Thanksgiving

Josh and I drove from Sunnyvale, CA to Riverton, UT on Wed. It was 13 hours of fun, fun, fun! We arrived at Mark and Elisa's at 11:45 that night (his sister). They've pretty much let us take over their house since moving in and our kids have loved having cousins to play with (almost exactly the same ages as mine).

My favorite things about the visit, or that I'm THANKFUL for, are:

-Being in functioning home, kitchen, bedrooms, everything works and feels like home.

-Being in UT, I love it here. I love the spirit that is here, I love seeing temples all over the place, I love how nice and friendly everyone is. I love being close to BYU and all the great memories that come from it, including meeting Josh.

-I loved getting a few deals yesterday with Tina. I didn't particularly love the shopping, but it was much more fun than usual since I didn't have to be doing it and didn't have the kids. We both love the choas and excitement that something like Black Friday brings, so she was a good person to be out with.

-Eating lots of good food. Lots and lots, much too lots.

-Being with family. His brother, Ethan, is getting married next week to his lover Danielle (left), so they joined us. Tina, my little marathoner sister is at BYU so she's been staying with us too, soo fun. And Elisa and Mark are the owners of this shabang, on the right. The kids are too little to be seen at their table:). Josh's parents came in last night for Danielle's first time going through the temple, I love a full house.

***
This is Thanksgiving dinner. Notice the difference between picture #1 and #2?

Okay, I realize that the pics are too small to really notice, but when we looked at these we all agreed the second was better. Then I realized that it was because right before he took the second pic I said, "Posture!"

Q: What are you Thankful for right now?

Q: What's been your favorite thing about Thanksgiving this year?